A Land Rover parts thief has been warned to expect a prison sentence.

Liam Parter, 23, has already pleaded guilty to theft and going equipped to the Dick Lovett dealership in Melksham last year.

It is said the men had been stealing parts from five Land Rover 4x4s when they were found nearby at 10.45pm on July 9, 2019.

Parter, of Watling Place, Sittingbourne, and co-defendant Lawson, 40, of Kennedy Close, Faversham, are said to have gone equipped with a balaclava, car jack and tools.

The younger man failed to appear at Swindon Crown Court on Friday, after earlier that week warned the judge that he did not have money to make his way from Kent to Wiltshire.

Andrew Stone, defending, told Judge Jason Taylor QC on Tuesday morning his client had been arrested on Thursday and was currently on remand at HMP Elmley in the Isle of Sheppey.

The judge ordered a pre-sentence report from the probation service, warning Parter: “You’ve got one chance to co-operate with probation. If you don’t use it you will lose it.” He told the man’s lawyer that he expected it would inevitably be a custodial sentence.

Parter and Lawson will be sentenced on July 14. He was remanded in custody.